After completing the Nether Portal, the initial results seemed quite promising.
Horns hadn't even been celebrating for more than a few seconds when a sudden roar erupted from behind him.
"Is another Mutant Zombie coming?"
Only a handful of elite mobs could breach the stone wall defense, so he hadn't initially paid them much mind.
But when he saw the expressions of Mark and Soren Park in the distance growing increasingly grim, Horns immediately realized something was wrong.
One, two, three...
From what he could hear, there were already at least a dozen roars, and the count was still rising.
He stiffly turned his head. Catching a glimpse of the dense pack of figures behind him, Horns froze on the spot.
He hadn't misheard; they really were zombies!
How could so many zombies have appeared?
"They're coming out of the Nether Portal!"
Once he identified the source of the zombies, Horns' scalp tingled with dread.
It was as if the Nether Portal contained some kind of multiplier; for every five zombies thrown in, several times that number were being spat back out!
Their raspy growls sounded like demons crawling straight out of the abyss!
The previously frustrated viewers from the Nine Provinces suddenly felt a wave of relief.
"Oh ho! The Nether Portal backfired!"
"Oh, you like to copy? You like to claim God Yu gave you guys advice?"
"You didn't learn a damn thing! You couldn't even get the basics right!"
"I don't know exactly what happened, but this is satisfying!"
"Instead of luring the zombies away, they ended up pulling even more monsters out of the Nether!"
"Thieves never come to a good end!"
"So satisfying!"
Fries, who had been feeling disappointed just moments ago, brightened up immediately.
He had just been venting, never expecting the tables to turn so quickly!
"I really love that quote: 'The Alliance shall not fear zombies!'"
Recalling Horns' earlier boastful words, he burst into laughter.
If they weren't afraid of zombies, surely they could clean up all these, right?
They had indeed crafted a Firearm Worktable and possessed ranged capabilities, but ammunition required resources.
The Alliance couldn't afford infinite ammo yet, so they would inevitably have to make a choice.
"Still, it's strange. The principle should be roughly the same as what Soren Park saw. Why is the result so different?"
After he stopped laughing, Fries began to ponder.
He had watched Galen Yu build his as well, and the only real difference was a layer of glass.
But even with glass, the zombies would just pour out from the other side; that shouldn't have solved the problem.
It was truly baffling.
Within the Alliance, Soren Park didn't have the luxury of thinking about such deep questions.
The sudden turn of events had caught everyone completely off guard.
"What's going on? The Nether Portal was fine just a second ago! Where did all these zombies come from?"
Over twenty zombies had appeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Mark fuming.
Working together with the Spartan Warriors, clearing out twenty or so zombies wasn't an issue.
But what about what came next?
If they tried to lure more zombies, would five go in and twenty come back out?
Were they defending against zombies or mass-producing them?
"I... I don't know either."
Soren Park stammered, looking just as bewildered.
He had seen Galen Yu build it that way; aside from that glass layer, it was a perfect one-to-one replica.
How could such a major issue arise?
"We need to stay calm regarding the Nether Portal. I think we should focus on dealing with those zombies first."
Fearing he might be kicked out of the Alliance on the spot, Soren Park hurriedly tried to soothe Mark, reminding him that the immediate problem was the priority.
Mark shot a glare at Soren Park, knowing full well that now wasn't the time to settle accounts.
"Then you tell me! How do we handle this?"
He tossed the problem back to Soren Park, who answered immediately.
"Dealing with the zombies is the top priority. The Nether Portal is generating them, so it must be destroyed."
"And the only one in a position to do that right now is Horns!"
"For the safety of the majority, I believe we must make a difficult choice."
His implication was crystal clear.
They either had to abandon Horns or try to escort him back safely, which would leave them with a problematic Nether Portal to deal with.
Mark glanced at the situation across the way and gave a slight nod.
"I agree. It's not feasible to send anyone else over there; the cost of a rescue is too high."
"For the greater good, Horns!"
Mark pointed at the Nether Portal and made a crushing gesture before letting out a sigh.
"You built it, so you clean it up. I'll pray to God for you."
As things stood, the speed at which they were clearing the zombies was far slower than the rate at which they were appearing.
The longer this dragged on, the more variables there would be, and there was no telling how many more zombies would show up.
Now was the best time to destroy the Nether Portal. Mark didn't want to waste bullets, nor did he want his chunk overrun by so many zombies.
As for Horns? He was expendable.
Understanding Mark's intent, Horns' expression shifted several times.
'I've been abandoned?'
Hardly anyone had been willing to take on such a dangerous mission; he had only stepped up after steeling his resolve.
He recalled Soren Park's solemn promises, how he'd guaranteed his safety and swore the Alliance would never leave anyone behind.
Now, Horns could only curse their names.
Even the viewers watching from the outside couldn't help but speak out.
"What scumbags! They're abandoning a teammate again!"
"It's not the first time. They were just as cold-blooded when they abandoned Kapil!"
"We trust you with our lives, and this is how you treat us?"
"I protest! Is Mark's life the only one that matters? Does Horns' life mean nothing?"
"Shameless! I hope the other allies take this as a warning—don't throw your lives away for the Alliance!"
The strongest reaction came from Horns' home nation.
In the Block World, a player represented more than just themselves; they represented the tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of civilians behind them.
Who could accept their representative being told to simply throw their life away?
Who could accept their representative being told to simply throw their life away?
"Sir, the protests against us have reached a peak, primarily led by Horns' home nation."
Inside the Black House, the Blonde Elder listened to the report in silence.
As he watched the waves of protest messages scroll by, he remained expressionless, though he felt a slight urge to laugh.
"Ignore them. Rationally speaking, Mark made the right call, didn't he?"
"Once Horns is dead, the protests will naturally die down."
Mark was the leader of the Alliance, and they were the strongest power in the world. Protests?
Who could a small nation even complain to?
It was an utterly insignificant matter.
What he cared about more was the Nether Portal and what was happening on Galen Yu's side.
"Strange, it's so strange. Why didn't this happen with Galen Yu's Nether Portal?"
"The villager? The glass?"
The Blonde Elder didn't believe those were the reasons.
Horns could serve as a substitute for a villager, and the glass was only to prevent the villager from wandering into the portal. Whether it was there or not shouldn't have mattered.
Theoretically, the conditions were identical.
"And then there's that eerie tower. Gunpowder is needed to craft ammunition, and that tower can spawn Creepers at any time."
Aside from the Nether Portal, the Mob Farm also left the Blonde Elder deeply impressed.
The experts were still studying the exact principles and didn't fully understand it yet.
But looking back now, the Blonde Elder couldn't help but admire the sheer ingenuity.
He hadn't understood why anyone would build a tower specifically to spawn monsters back then, but look at it now.
Infinite ammunition! Infinite firepower!
No wonder even the villagers were fully armed; it was truly enviable.
"The Nether Portal might have been a failure, but perhaps we should try replicating that Creeper Farm next?"
Accidents happened; it was only natural. The Blonde Elder didn't blame Soren Park.
The rest of those useless hacks in the Alliance didn't have the vision or the guts. He still recognized Park's ability and looked forward to his next performance.
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